University of Houston Athletics
Dana Dimel Chat Wrap
9/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2002
BMFT San Antonio: When asked what's your Win goal for this year, I hate to hear a coach say "to win more than last year or to be respectable or competitive". Given that we are 2-2, Do you realistically believe we will win 6-7 games?
Dana Dimel: We put our season in three segments. The first segment was the first three games. The second segment was the next four game, and the third was the final games. After game seven, I should be able to say what our win total should be.
Scott (Houston): Coach, I was at all three of our games vs. ut-austin. And while it's true we lost em all, I have to tell you, I was impressed with the kids backbone and their courageous effort this year. They never backed down and never gave up (and it showed). I didn't see that same type of effort last year when we happened to find ourselves down late in the game. What do you contribute this new focus, grit and character on?
Keep it up, those kids are going to win a bunch of games before they leave the UofH.
Thanks and eatem up.Dana Dimel: No time was I in doubt that we would not play hard in the second half. I feel that ballgame was a lot closer than the score indicated. The third-and-10 conversion and the personal foul that followed. Of course, the scored 17 points to end the half. You take that away and the way we played in second half and the game was much closer.
John K.: How many players are redshirting this year? have you needed to burn a red-shirt that you did not expect to in the first 3 games?
Dana Dimel: We're redshirting all but Gerard Richard, Roshawn Pope, Will Gulley and Matthew Bentley of our freshmen. This last recruiting class is proving to be an outstanding recruiting class for us. Albuquerque, N.M.: Since you stated that the football program was in worst shape then you were led to believe,how long(in years)can we expect to see a winning level. similar to the Yoeman,Pardee,Jenkins, era of winning games, and competing with the quality of teams like Texas.
Dana Dimel: I think you see Texas' team getting better each year. I think it take a coach six years to get this impact on the program...getting his recruits in and implementing your style of play. I think this is the window that it takes. Obviously, we do not have the same resources Texas and A&M have, but in three years we have narrowed the gap quite a bit.
Plano Cougar: As a former Houstonian and now living in Dallas, I'm concerned that our Dallas recruiting suffered with the loss last year of one particular coach. Any chances for picking up the pace in the Dallas area for this year's recruiting? Hang in, your patience will pay off.
Dana Dimel: That's an area that we still want to do well in. We still have contacts there, and Dave Warner is recruiting this area well. We had three players from Mesquite pay their own way to come down to our camp, and they are the defending state champions. Of course, Barrick is definitely a plus. Chris (Sugar Land): Coach this time last year we were 0-4. This year we are 2-2. Are the players pretty excited about where they are in the standings?
Dana Dimel: The players are excited about the rest of the season and heading into conference play. They're encouraged about the improvement in our offensive line and our defense, and how the receivers picked up their performance level against Texas, so we think we have a lot of positives to feed off the rest of the season.
John Wilson (Houston): It has been obivious that your rebuilding program is going in the right direction with the last 2 recruting classes and improved play on the field this year. How would you rank the program's progress in terms of what you are pleased with versus what needs improvement, and what needs to be done going forward to take the program to the next step?
Dana Dimel: I think the first step we need to take is to continue to become a much faster football team and continue to recruit guys that have an academic focus about them. But again, it is evident we have increased our team speed in our game against Rice...Texas as well. Charles Forbess, Houston: Coach. I notice that we're playing some true frosh linemen this year. It seems that most top programs always redshirt their O and Dlinemen. Particularly with the linemen, isn't it better to always hold them back a year, to receive benefit down the line, than to play their frosh year? Why did you chose to play the two frosh on the Dline. Second question. Are we going to concentrate on Olinemen with our next recruiting class?
Dana Dimel: Right now the choice to play Kade Lane and Matthew Bentley was one where they both were good enough to play at a higher level, and thus redshirting them would only inhibit their opportunity to help our team. As a matter of fact, both are going to start this week. As far as o-linemen, I think it is harder for a true freshman to play offensive line. This year we are focusing heavily on recruiting offensive linemen...probably four high school and two junior college linemen...hopefully some mid-year transfers. Leonard (Houston): What's the outlook for the rest of the season?
Dana Dimel: We haven't put a definitive number of wins on our goal sheet. Right now we are focused on each of our younger players getting better each week. And also, making sure our seniors provide great leadership. We'll probably have a better idea of what our realistic win total will be after the seventh game. That gives us a better idea of where we'll be as well as where our final five opponents will be. Moderator: Well, thanks everyone. Check in later in November when we'll get Coach Dimel back on for another online chat with you, the Cougar faithful. Take care and Go Coogs!
